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Show (How Money of Tax Payers I Goes Into Political Rat Holes I VERY BAD MANAGEMENT ch the People 111 Repudiate. . jff's Office Dead Weight, im It Should Produce Revenues, .ary Payrolls Padded and Whol-Needless Whol-Needless Salaries Paid- at That Institution. El wonder If the tax payers oC Salt ke county have any Idea how great aaum they pay annually into the treasury treas-ury to be disbursed on warrant hy the Board of Commissioners?" nBked a gait Lake business man. "And I woii-Jer woii-Jer If they consider how very little In the way of public improvements they pet for that enormous sum?" There Is a text in these queries for tvery tax payer to make a study of for himself. And he should have It so thoroughly mastered that he will have So trouble convincing himself why the iChderson-Calllsler-Eldrcdge clique are forking over-time to keep the American Ameri-can party nominees for Commissioners imt of the Commissioners' ofllce next month, lin the first Dlace The Tribune takes pleasure In saying that so far as the bookkeeping of the Auditor and the Treasurer Is concerned that there is not The slightest criticism to make. The pfflclals In charge of these offices are Iipetent and the records are kept h care. But It must be remembered t both positions are not admlnls-tlve. admlnls-tlve. They are clerlcol. The county nanased by the County Commlsslbn-The Commlsslbn-The majority of the board is corned corn-ed of Commissioners Anderson and Ijon who are nothing- If not the wil-; wil-; servants of the priesthood of the ninant church, hese men can conduct the business the county as they may see lit. The rd member could not Interfere If he Ired The Pauper Clerk. James Sa-e, Sa-e, Is one of the principal wheels In Anderson machine. He was until ently a Democrat. He Is now Com-slonor Com-slonor Anderson's olllclal as well as ltlcal man-servant Is This Not Incrimination? jf. Pauper Clerk Snblne says there is no discrimination in the Issuing of pauper Orders. If Clerk Sabine Is to be relied gn In this statement let him tell why It Is that the great majority of the orders are drawn on Mormon business Rouses and that such firms as "Walker Brothers Dry Goods company and fiKelth-O'Brlen company, by far the (largest tax payers, never get a dollar. ;Ut him say why Z. C. M. I , Thirteenth jjWard Store, Wllles-Horne and a score j,or more Mormon houses get the great aJority of the orders. 5J He says the orders ure drawn where jjlie indigents request them or are (jfrawn for convenience. "Will he tell by hat system of reasoning the Indigents JouId prefer to trade with the Mormon (oiK3 than the Gentile? And will ho y by what process he can figure that ths Gentile houses are less "convenient" "conven-ient" than the Mormon houses?" 0f course he will not say. There Is tout one reason for It. There Is a systematic sys-tematic effort to direct the general junds into Buch channels as arc friendly friend-ly to the leading politicians of the dominant dom-inant church or direct to Mormon business bus-iness men. I Must Control Conimisslonership. IjWhy Is It that the priesthood guards 5 2alously the office of County Commissioner? Com-missioner? Why Is it that nominations S.Mlll.l!?e Republican and the Democratic Demo-cratic tickets are made so as to be pertain of control? iflnL' neureB from the county's 'Thi u department will determine this. W , .mUrEement oC county funds this V pL 11 amount to nearly $383,000. think? SUm ot monc'' don'1 vou-'manvSHm,Un, vou-'manvSHm,Un, aalarlcs. Buys a great S Th5 the old nollax machine. Iicrcli ft rs ot lhe ch"ch-the corn-foul corn-foul a i f w wel1 ns Politicians-KS! Politicians-KS! of Met that sum I)ass Into the Eur nn.lhe "on-Morrnons for any-Krol any-Krol iL WOU,d rathet; hQVe rofi Jm lh,B vdat aum than Ql1 the 5JndirS8'tland thrUGh it, directly and lfc orrw v Patronage of the county, I UCe cornea a more powerful i agent for the furthering of the ecclesiastical eccles-iastical machine than every other branch of the government Enormous County Receipts. The year's financial statement will be of interest In this connection: On January 1, 1901, there was cash on hand amounting to. ....J S0.015 20 Tax lovy for this year is 222,TO.18 Revenue derived from fees, etc., to Septombcr 30 62,147.80 Revenue estimated for last qua- ter of this year 20,715.03 Total revenues J3S3.612.20 This tremendous sum is expended, with the exception of but a few thousand thou-sand dollars, to meet salary accounts, malntalnance of the several offices and Institutions, and on account of Indigents Indi-gents and Interest on the public debt. ( Few permanent Improvements are made. These consist of roads and bridges and of the sum paid out on account ac-count of roads and brldccs. A groat per cent Is for work that Ib of no permanent per-manent benefit Some substantial Improvements have been made on bridge account and to improve several of the highways, but the sum so expended Is such a mero bagatelle, when considered alongxld the $333,000 odd dollars of rovenue collected, col-lected, that It presents a telling argument argu-ment against the general lack of business busi-ness ability In the administration of the. office. It must be remembered that, while' the county has a joint Interest with the city in the magnificent city and county building, the amount represented in the foregoing figures does not Include In-clude an part of the principal sum expended ex-pended for this improvement. Not a dollar was expended on this account The liabilities for 1904 are approximately approximate-ly as fololws: Outstanding warrants, January 1, 1904 $ 1,264.84 "Warrants Issued to September SO 211,636.01 Estimated expenses for last quarter 1904 70,545.34 Interest on bondB due and paid.. 23,500.00 $306,946.19 Estlmatod surplus Jan 1, 1905.. 7S.666.0l $355,012.20 Big Obligations Falling- Due. One thing, and a serious one, that confronts the county Is the fact that the county building bonds will soon be falling due. This liability muBt be provided pro-vided for. And In providing for It the surplus revenues, If the estimate made of the probable surplus will be sustained sus-tained at the close of the year, will dwindle to practically nothing. At the gait the county is going, with the bonded debt coming due, unless there Is retrenchment of a very vlgor-our vlgor-our character, there cannot be any substantial sub-stantial Improvements made without Increase In the tax levy. Increase In population gradually increases in-creases the general expenses. This Is covered easily by the Increased revenues. reve-nues. Yet at the most Jlb.eral estimate the surpjjis Is dwlndllng'Vheh It should' pile higher and higher with the present levy. The recklessness of the ,poor account disbursements Is not the only item thai threatens to Involve the county', within with-in the next two years, in a financial tangle and compel the Increasing of the tax levy. But It Is a considerable ona. The mismanagement of the County Infirmary In-firmary and the office of the Sheriff are two public leaks that deserve, of the most conscientious reform. A. JstriKing- example. On the basis of good government tiro Sheriff's office should be self-sustain-, ing, If not a revenue payer. But under the present administration of the affairs af-fairs of the county It Is run, It would appear, more for the purpose- of paying some political scores, than as an Important Im-portant branch of the public service. Fees are permitted to accumulate until un-til they have become enormous. But what does Sheriff Emery and hla official of-ficial family care If the fees are not collected when their salaries are forth coming? Especially when It offends some one to force a collection. Last year the Sheriff's office cost the taxpayers of Salt Lake county $22,980.39. The Sheriff turned Into the treasury but $4141.SS, or a deficit of $18,838.58! Now, there is something radically wrong when an office of this character Is run in such an unbusinesslike manner. man-ner. There is something In this that calls for a reform that reforms. The American party pledges the taxpayers tax-payers of Salt Lake county, if Intrusted In-trusted with power, that relief shall speedily be secured from this bit of maladministration mal-administration either through administration adminis-tration that is businesslike, or through legislation that will make the office what It should be self-sustaining. The Sheriff's office should pay a revenue reve-nue to the- county, Just as the offices of Recorder and Clerk do. This, a Public Eyesore. The management of the Infirmary Is nothing short of a public outrage. According Ac-cording to the public statement of the pauper clerk of the Board of Commissioners Commis-sioners there are at this time 104 Inmates In-mates In the Infirmary. Of course many of them are unable to do any kind of work. But a large per cent of those at the Infirmary can do certain kinds of labor, as Is the ca2 in all Institutions of the kind. They are better contonted and are kept In better health when given certain klndH ot employment. But under the present administration the Infirmary In-firmary is run In a manner that It is more consplcuouw af a political machine thun as a retreat for t,hosc who are unfortunate. un-fortunate. A glance over the palary roll for the Infirmary will show that Superintendent Superintend-ent Jones has a steward who Is paid $05 a month. Now what la there so engrossing about superintending the infirmary that the superintendent cannot act in the capacity ca-pacity of the steward? He also has a matron at $50. Tbls is, of course, a legitimate Item. Then there are two farmers at $35 each. Wpuld a good burinc3s man hire two farmers to look after a little patch of land such as la the Infirmary, when there are twenty or more inmates who are able and doubtless willing to assist In the farm work? What do the two farmers do? "What Is the need for them? Then there Is a cook at $30 and a laundresw at $301 Now, these expendi tures are absolutely needless In an infirmary in-firmary where there are 110 Inmates. Those who have visited the Institution and who have seen the Inmates are authority au-thority for the statement that fully forty of the Inmates are able to cover the work done by the cook and the laundress with as much skill and efficiency effi-ciency as thore on the rolls. But Sup-perlntendent Sup-perlntendent Jones Is so busy working for "Fussy Jimmy" that he doubtless has not discovered this, I Deficit Greater Than Justified. j He drew from the County Treasurer last year to pay salaries and- malntalnance, maln-talnance, $15,560.30. Of thlB. $4087 was for salaries. As a matter of fact, the salary account should not have exceeded exceed-ed $2000, which would have covered the superintendent's and the matron's, with such a. large- colony to draw upon for help. And ho turned into the treasury $602.68, part of Which was money paid br others for the malntalnance of some of the lnmateo! Thre in good administration with a vengeance! There la another little item In connection connec-tion with this institution. It is of very recent occurrence. "We Just stumbled onto.it and tell the story for the edification edifi-cation of the taxpayers of Salt Lake county who like to pay money Into the treasury to be squandered by the members mem-bers of the Andefson-Calllster-Eldredge political machinists. Here are some Items sent in last month by Superintendent Jones and paid out of the public funds: "W. R. Jones, Jr $1S.35 Reese Jonea 5.S5 J. H. Hayford 10.65 S, J. R. Miller 8.35 Carrie Telford 5.00 $4S-20 This tolls of the little system which Is In vogue at the Infirmary' of padding the expense account. The persons In whose favor the warrants were drawn are on the Infirmary payrolls. They get a straight salary. There Is a custom cus-tom of giving the employees a vacation of ten days a year Avlth pay. The vacations va-cations are supposed to be so arranged that when one of the employees is away the others double' up and do the absent one's work. Itjs a practice which many business houses employ. And there is nothing special to criticise In it that the public would care about. But Superintendent Jones has his own peculiar way of running the infirmary infir-mary and the vacation system furnishes a way of relieving the county of about $120 a year. It Is this way. The salary" roll for the Infirmary Is now $355 per month. The vouchers covering the sum of tho five Items In the foregoing ($48.20) are with the files for last month. They all read "for 10 days vacation at the salary of $ (the respective amounts being filled In the space, according to the em-nlovfee em-nlovfee npr month." Nice Little Pick-Up. Superintendent Jones increases his salary $18.35 a year by this little play and he can thus pay some portion of his tithing. So can the others. But the taxpayers have to come around on taxpaying time and put up their good money for It. Salt Lake county not only does not get any returns for the $120 thus, wheedled out of the treasury, but witnesses wit-nesses the abuse of a vacation rule that was made as a kindness to Its employees. em-ployees. But these Items these leaks are but a few of hundreds. It Is such as these that call for reform. It Is such as these that make It Impossible for Salt Lake county to be put on a basis with other progressive counties. There has been enough money squandered squan-dered on unnecescary clerkships, on unnecessary supplies, on a general frittering frit-tering away of funds on unsubstantial road building and In unjustifiable tax rebates during the past four years to pave fifty mlle9 of the county's highways! high-ways! The public Is being milked to preserve and to perpetuate the reign of a clique of so-called Republicans In office, "We say "so-called," because these- men refuse re-fuse to sustain the Republican organization organi-zation unless they control the organization organiza-tion and domineer the conventions. When they cannot do this they either oppose the nominees or sulk In their tents. Party fealty means party perfidy with them. Church and self predominate. Party Is but the livery with which they serve tho priesthood and the commer-clallsts commer-clallsts ot the dominant church. Taxpayers of Salt Lake county will sooner or later find It absolutely necessary neces-sary to break away from these political wreckers and self-seekers. There Is nothing more certain. They have the opportunity to withdraw from the dishonored dis-honored and prlestrldden parties In Salt Lake this year and' elect men vho are anxious to and are capable of making of the county a truly American corporation, corpora-tion, whose plan Is to serve the people faithfully and efficiently, without regard re-gard to religious or other environments. H. G. McMillan and Jacob Bourgard are the American party nominees for County Commissioners. They are both capable and honest business men. If the county's affairs are entrusted to their care there will be no diverting of funds to. ecclesiastical ends, no raping of the xunty treasury. News Evades Charges. The Deseret News dares not meet the charges made by The Tribune that public pub-lic fundpare diverted, into channels controlled con-trolled by churchmen. It knows that, under tho administration of James H. Anderson, the Commissioners' ofllce Is used at all times and in all manners to discriminate against non-Mormons and that the poor fund Is used to sustain sus-tain in large part the indigent members of the. dominant church. Tho .records reveal such a condition as to jrlve offense to every man who believes In fair play In the ndmlnjEtra-tton ndmlnjEtra-tton of" the public's affairs and In the distribution of public funds. And the Deseret News attempts to have It appear that The Tribune would convey the thought that the poor of the county are all In the infirmary Thin It knows Is not the case and has not been suggested. The' greatest sum paid out on poor or pauper orders is to Indigents outside of tho asylum. And ihe greater part of this money Is systematically directed through Mormon business houses. Gentile Gen-tile houses, which pay tho larger part of the taxes, do not get a dollur. The Tribune will produce examples of thiB discrimination to Justify Its claims. Under the administration of the An-derson-Calllstcr-Eldredge pool of politicians poli-ticians in the joint building those who receive any benefits for the funds paid in as taxes must be tithe payers, or so situated as to be able to serve the ends of the men who direct the destinies of the so-called Republican organization in Salt Lake county. The whole story of the diverting of the public funds for political purposes cannot can-not be told. The records fairly reek with these outrages. And the clique Is tearing heaven and farth to prevent a thorough Inquiry into these methods. " - . 1 |
